Bewitched
by Yaoimelody
Summary: ForgivenShipping. CrushedShipping. And the drama continues! What happened next on this soap opera version of NinjaGo!


Lloyd and Bradley rushed down the path they were taking on the sidewalk. The younger looked a bit unnerved by this, which confused and also worried the green ninja. In a way this was bothering him that he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. There was a rumor that a new menace was starting his reign in the area, yet the raven-haired was so eager to go in that general area anyways. "I want to go for a run~" He uncharacteristically begged until the blond gave in. Eventually they reached the outskirts of the infamous downtown, causing the ninja to freeze.

"Brad, I don't think we should go any farther-" A sudden blast of concrete debris coming at them seemed to want to prove that exact point.

Giving a soft pout, the other boy patted his shoulder, "Please Lloyd, just a little bit longer... Okay?"

Giving up with a slight smile despite the situation, the teenager allowed them to continue. Eventually he started peering around, noticing the shaded figures start to stalk after them. Growing ready to protect them, he noticed the opposing start to stop. This wasn't realistic, since Brad saw the people too.

One of them slowly made their way to the front, pulling back the black hood to reveal his face. The teenager standing in front of them had to be maybe a little older than Lloyd was, with shoulder-length auburn hair, pasty skin, and was currently fixing the side of his dorky glasses. Instead of caring so much about the ninja at the moment, his eyes were all over Brad.

"Gene?" The blond nearly jumped out of his skin, not realizing the nerd had gotten hit with the aging potion as well. But then again he wasn't surprised.

"Hello Lloyd," instead of the usual obnoxious voice, it went down a few octaves to a normal tone. The glance was over, his face in a proud smile, "Very good, Brad, I didn't think you could have carried on like that this long... I haven't seen you in a few weeks, I grew worried." He held out his lanky arms.

It practically blew the wind out of the ninja to see the next scene unfold. It was all coming together, how the kisses would be sweet, but nothing passionate like you read about. Why the boy left to go on walks or visit his "family". All the schoolboy had was his father, and Bradley couldn't stand the guy.

Bradley eagerly rushed into the other's arms, snuggling his face into the neck. "I just... I wanted to be with you, Gene. I'm sick and tired of faking it..." He pulled back so their noses could touch, "I can't stop thinking of you all the time."

"Naturally," smirked the evil genius, but there was a teasing tone and he wrapped his arms around the other. Then his gaze fell over the green ninja, causing Lloyd to shrink back. The stare made him think of how Gene used to be so full of energy, compared to a more dead sort of space around him. Even though he was excited talking to Brad. The nerd stepped closer, causing the other figures to start circling the chosen one. This would be interesting, but then he began to speak, "Now that you're here, I expect you know why?"

Maybe not the total reason, but the young Garmadon figured, "Brad was... using me this whole time and got me to come along with him so I could fall for this trap." He wondered if this was another dream, but perhaps not since he felt the whipping winds attack his body. About as good as he felt right about now.

"Correct!" Gene now had a glimmer in his eye, "Especially after the age change! I couldn't believe any of what Brad would tell me. You treated him like he was a delicate little flower, when indeed you are. Now, despite his love for gardens, we will crush you."

At least the called out refused to look directly at him, or he would lose it. Lloyd made a face, "I can't believe it... Why? You could have just been my friend, but you had to pretend to love me?" It was a pleading voice now, but he ignored that fact, "I felt something, why use me like that?"

Brad picked at something something nonexistent on his clothed shoulder, "Because it was just too easy!" Then he grew the nerve to look directly in the eyes of his famous "love", "Sure I liked you as a kid, but then I realized that was a sham. I found I was falling in love with Gene, but I wasn't complaining. I visited him whenever I could, though I found I had to do it in private since he had to keep moving around to keep the plans from being found out."

Lloyd was about to spit something back, in an angry rage now. He bit his lower lip though, not wanting to attack at Brad. Despite all of this. His eyes went to the background. The humanized Serpentine and Skulkin, then also some pirates stared back at him darkly. Even some characters he knew from his childhood. It was odd the most familiar face wasn't there. "Who started this if not Pythor?"

Hushed tones whipped around the crowd, causing Gene to roll his eyes, "He wasn't part of this, and no good at this sort of thing. He was a coward and a creep, so why bother?"

"He was the leader of Serpentine though!" Nothing made sense to him anymore, so why keep his voice down anymore? Something else caught his eye. It was the male before him. Gene looked more built than he would figure. No way he would be caught dead exercising, "What... How in the-"

Lloyd was knocked down on the ground, and writhed with the fed-up teenager. It was odd how much stronger he was then he looked. This couldn't be the chortling, "evil genius" anymore. Something happened to him to make him practically superhuman. Pinned down, the blond felt helpless, he couldn't harness his powers unless his stress was reduced. And looking at the harsh glare, he needed at least some of it.

"You ninjas think you're all that," sneered Gene, giving a snarl that sounded like something heard before... He dragged up Lloyd, causing the green ninja to stumble back a few paces. The surrounding sound was mostly jeers, since the men wanted an actual fight. They didn't want the Skulkin equivalent to steroids to go to waste. Starting to circle the slightly shorter himself, "What are you waiting for, fight me!"

"I can't, I'm not like that," tried the other gently, though Gene seemed to have lost some sense of self. The next action seemed too unreal, as a fist collided with his face. He flinched, but found nothing had happened except the auburn boy peeled back and held his reddened hand.

With a furious stare, "I'll get you for that, Lloyd!" It turned out a sheet of rugged ice had appeared to shield him from the blow.

The younger spun to find the other elemental ninjas rush up, but didn't have much to smile about. Instead of directly saying anything, the teenaged boys pulled on their masks and got ready for the brawl. He made his own defensive stance, not able to notice anything but the ground.

With a jerk of his head to the fuming teenager nearby, Cole quirked a bushy brow so that it went under his cloth headpiece, "Need any help?"

"Nah, I've got this," with a heavy heart he channeled energy and allowed it to rush up into his body without protest. "Ninja..."

"Go!" They finished together and began on their fight with whoever was on the opposite side. They left the nearby Gene to Lloyd. Something had to be up...

His particular Spinjitzu twister spun towards his child-mandated enemy, ready for a tussle. All he got was a roll of the irises, which looked even more intense of a green, "Really, play fair. I don't have those powers, but I know you have strength otherwise as well. That's why we should fight with something that matters."

"What is wrong with you?" The tornado stopped as he shook his head in disbelief, "You were all about knowledge! Being the smartest and-" A furious fist was caught with his hand, and then he twisted it behind Gene's back careful not to hurt him. The idea of hurting Brad's heart in any way wouldn't be good... Oddly, said boy was nowhere to be found. "Maybe Brad would hate this."

Both boys started out shoving angrily, after the idea of Bradley came up, not impressed the other would even think to want him. Only, Gene seemed to be winning, but the ninja wouldn't back down. This was about the overlord taking over NinjaGo City and all those attempts... For the sake of the people, he had to keep his cool. Not get too violent... Though as the swinging of fists and curses at each other grew fiercer, it was clear their tension as opposites were too much.

Suddenly Gene grew still, and kneeled over lightly on his knees. Making gasping noises, the nerd forced air in and out of his windpipes, holding at his throat. It took a moment for the green ninja to realize this wasn't fake. He figured the older had asthma and couldn't breathe since he didn't have an inhaler out... Eventually Gene brought out the device, but looked ashamed as he shook and used it. Also very tired, probably hoping that constant use of whatever made him this way would make his health issues go away. It didn't work that way. Someone smart like Gene, as much as Lloyd hated admitting it, should have figured that much out. Maybe that could be a side-effect, seeing as it would explain why the teenager was automatically rushing into everything so far today.

Something made him want to stop. Lloyd looked over at the ninjas who were scaring off the enemies. Or so they thought, seeing as they were all too ready to rush away. The culprit turned out to be Brad, who was waving them over to a very familiar ship. How the old flying ship even survived a mysterious built again didn't matter at the moment, but the fact that this was real. Also, new symbols were painted largely on the side, causing discomfort. What did any of this mean? Would the overlord never give up?

The testosterone-driven male turned tail and went towards the other schoolboy. Brad was becoming one of the last passengers by now, and the ninjas weren't about to open a can of worms just yet. Acting happy, Tudabone hugged him around the waist, and reached into the back pocket of the slacks, saying something and batting his long eyelashes. Laughing in response, Gene dipped down his head and kissed him, then turned back around with a wide grin. "I think you learned something today, ninja."

"Too bad you didn't Gene," retracing his steps, Bradley rushed up to Lloyd, kissing him and wrapping eager arms around his waist as well, with the spark that had been missing.

Confused to the core, it ended soon after as the dark-haired blew a kiss as he rushed off, leaving both teenagers incredulous. It took until they realized something was wrong that they found certain aspects of their causes gone. The key to the main building in NinjaGo was taken from Lloyd, then the remaining items of things to do that was on a list was shucked from Gene. They faintly listened to the ship lifting off, leaving the ninjas and the supposed enemy behind after all of this...

...When Lloyd listened he felt he heard the laugh that his partner had made when he found something hilarious. But this probably was the cruelest joke that not even the schoolboys wanted to ever pull. All except for the bewitching Bradley, that was.

["True Love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars." - Brandi Snyder]


End file.
